Kaya's Story (An InuYasha Fanfic)

Chapter 53: The Search Continues

I was standing in front of Naraku's castle. He was talking to the demon I had fought. They were coming to some kind of agreement. Naraku handed the demon a Sacred Jewel Shard and she bowed before disappearing. After a moment, Naraku looked at me and gave an evil cackle. "You won't stop me this time, because you will have no will to come after me." He gestured to our left and what I saw caused me to break down. There in the courtyard lay Ryu and Koneko, dead. I tried to charge but couldn't move. Then he pointed to my right and I saw InuYasha and his friends, dead as well. All I could do was sob. I had caused this and there was nothing I could do to save them now. I cried harder and fell to my knees. I awoke to someone shaking me. "Kaya, are you okay? You were screaming." "Ryu, you're okay," I said as I pulled him into a hug. He wrapped his arms around me. "Yeah, I'm fine. You were having a nightmare, weren't you?" I nodded into his shoulder. I didn't want to let him go for the fear of this not being real. So, I breathed in his scent to calm myself, before letting go. I glanced outside and saw it was late morning. "You've only been out for a few hours." It was like Ryu had read my mind. "Okay, that's good to know. Are the villagers alright?" I questioned." Ryu nodded before speaking, "you know, you don't have to act so brave around me." "What are you talking about?" I asked. "With that demon yesterday, I could tell you were terrified. It's okay to let yourself be weak, sometimes." He told me, casually. "Yeah, I guess," I replied quietly. We sat in silence for a while, that is until it occurred to me Kagome was coming back today. "I almost forgot, I'm supposed to meet InuYasha and his friends back at Lady Kaede's village today," I told Ryu. "You shouldn't join them again, just yet. You need to let your wounds heal more," He argued. "I'll be fine. If the demon shows up again, come find me and I'll take care of it," I commanded. Ryu nodded in response. Several moments later, I was up with my weapons ready to leave. Ryu stopped me at the barrier, "come back to me in one piece." "I will, I promise."

The run to Kaede's village was hard and I was starting to think Ryu was right. I also knew I'd get an earful from InuYasha if he had to track me down. That's the last thing I needed, right now. When I reached the village, Kagome and InuYasha's scents weren't there. So, I ran to the well to find Miroku, Sango, and Shippo sitting in the field surrounding the Well. "Where's InuYasha?" I asked when I reached the trio. "He went to Kagome's world to go get her," Miroku explained. I went and sat with my back against the Well, thinking about that demon. Why had Naraku sent her after me? Who was she and why didn't she smell like Naraku? Did that mean she wasn't his incarnation? Shippo's voice brought me out of my thoughts. "Kaya, why do you smell like a fox demon?" I panicked. "What, no reason. Why would you ask me that?" Thankfully, InuYasha and Kagome came through the well before any more could be said.

We left shortly after InuYasha and Kagome returned. That demon was still on my mind. InuYasha could sense something was up because he kept glancing at me, but never said anything. After Naraku vanished, InuYasha seemed irritated more than normal. We had decided to stop not too far from where Naraku's castle was because without a lead we figured it would be best to start there. It wasn't much help though, so after a short break, we started walking again. Shortly after that, Kagome informed us that she could sense Sacred Jewel Shards, then the scent of a wolf demon hit my senses. InuYasha's face turned to anger and he charged. That didn't stop Koga though, who began flirting with Kagome after using InuYasha's head as a springboard. InuYasha stepped between the two, which started an argument between Koga and InuYasha. I honestly zoned out after that because I had more important things to think about. A strong demonic aura brought me out of my thoughts. As it got closer, I realized it had Naraku's scent. InuYasha noticed too, causing us to grab our weapons. When it came into view I was almost disappointed, there's no way Naraku created this one. This hair demon was probably just discarded. When it got within range InuYasha jumped into the air and grabbed a chunk of the hair, flinging the demon so it was dangling over the cliff. He was trying to get information out of it, but it decided to use its hair to go after Kagome and her Jewel Shards. Before any of us could blink Koga had picked Kagome up and had taken off running. Once they were out of sight the demon fell over the cliff. We all knew it was after the Jewel Shards, so we took off after it.